Philosophy in BEING THERE
Hal Ashby’s career is defined by some movies which are now cult. Also, the effect of these movies can not be replicated by other directors. Like you can always have another mob or gangster movie, you can always have another Western, but somehow I feel movies of Hal Ashby are independent of any genre or sub-genre. Being There is perhaps the proponent of it more than Harold and Maude or any of his other film.
Forever I have tried to find a delicate balance in understanding how a film can be philosophical in nature without being pretentious. How can a film be philosophical without it trying to hard? How can philosophy be found in everyday activities of our characters? In that regard, I very dearly feel Hal Ashby is the American counterpart to French Eric Rohmer.
To the new cinephiles, what Birdman’s ending did, Being There did it in 1979 and perhaps more effectively. The story revolves around a character who is unaware of the world and its ways and yet he is confident of his ways. Being There is a critique of the society yes, but it also explains in simpler ways this – what can be the ideal way to conduct yourself in face of adversity. Imagine a scenario where you are homeless in an instant just like that. Most of us in that scenario perhaps would break down in one way or another. Chauncey Gardiner does not. Not to say that what Chauncey does or the way he behaves is ideal, but that is where the philosophical quotient lies. Camus’s philosophy of Embracing the Absurd, rings very true here. Without a look of distraught, Chauncey Gardiner, the gardener is facing each moment as it comes, be it meeting the President of US of A. He relies on what he knows. The oldest trick in the book, always say and do what you know. He talks in his language, a language of a gardener, he talks about flowers and roots and seasons of growth, and he speaks with such indifferent care in his voice that all his words and phrases are taken for metaphors. I’m sure Hal Ashby intended these metaphorical interpretations as a way to critique the society which prizes what it can’t understand. The society certainly can’t understand Chauncey Gardiner, played brilliantly by Peter Sellers. And yet I feel this movie is less about society’s reaction towards Chauncey but Chauncey’s way of looking at life, a way which to some extent we can understand if not emulate to face our day to day struggles.
Sure, there can also be another meta commentary about the importance of TV in Chauncey’s understanding of the world. After all if you look at from a pop-culture point of view, TV was really coming onto its own during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Chauncey’s education was TV. What he knows of the world is through his interaction with TV and not with the people inhabiting the real world. Of course, it would be easier to dub Being There as a satire, but merely calling it a satire simply undermines the idea that Chauncey Gardiner embodies and portrays. To him, roaming in the world is perhaps like roaming in the garden.
Any piece of Art is not really complete until it has its underlying philosophy. The behavior of each character in a movies is that character’s philosophical view of life. Still, most movies lack an underlying philosophical commentary despite its characters being philosophical in nature. A good example perhaps can be Tyler Durden’s critique of society in Fight Club as he spills out one liner philosophical quotes which today can be found in memes and on T-shirts. Peter Seller’s Chauncey Gardiner is not philosophical in nature. He is the for-bearer of a greater truth. He is he. He is a gardener. That is his truth. Nothing less, and nothing more. His seclusion from the society has in a way allowed him to accept himself just the way he is. To him, being himself is not a philosophical task as it is to Tyler Durden in some ways. He is he. The lack of philosophical quotient on Chauncey Gardiner’s part is what makes Being There philosophical. The movie and its protagonist are not philosophical by choice, but by the sheer lack of bringing attention to its philosophical quotient is what makes this movie philosophical in nature.
The reason why Being There would be a priceless piece of cinema and art is because the emotions that it touches are everyday emotions. Often our initial instinct in everyday life is to behave in a manner that validates society first and ourselves second. Now there can be number of psychological and philosophical reasons for this. We all indeed seek validation in one way or another. The protagonist of Being There does not. He goes so far so as to not even seek acceptance from the society. He seeks wonder, like a boy born yesterday and thrown among the vultures as he retains his childlike innocence. Preserving this innocence is what makes life bearable, especially for people like you and I who did not have the good fortune of growing up secluded from the ways of the world.
